Another stitchalong sample.

After deciding that I was not that excited by Festoon Stitch I was prepared to feel the same way about Frost Stitch - they are not very different, after all- and thought that it would probably be a week or so before I picked up the sampler again. However, while I was leafing through Mary Thomas looking for her version of Frost Stitch, I came across Back Stitch Trellis. She didn't suggest that it could be pulled but said that it is used in Jacobean work and was suitable for a light filling. I had to see what it would be like as a pulled version. The possibility of various shapes of varying sizes made it attractive I really like pulled thread stitches that easily allow variation - pulled satin and Algerian eye, for example.

I began with 12 perle in cotton and decided that the definition of the spaces could look batter in something finer. Then there was Isafil in the smaller triangle - a horrible thread for Pulled Thread work as it breaks easily. The Molyncke white machine thread for the small square performed much better. If I had not decided to preserve the monochrome idea I might have tried a Gutermans metallic machine embroidery thread - I think it look good .

Then there was the possibility of changing the number of threads in each block. The large triangle and the square are 2x2 thread squares while the smaller triangle is 3x3.

Now Frost Stitch will probably be next. It isn't in my edition of M.T. but I do have it in McNeill who says it was developed by a student who made a mistake in stitching Ringed Back - just the sort of thing I would be guilty of - misreading the instructions!